David N. Cook joins IAVI as Chief Operating Officer

February 01, 2010

NEW YORK, February 1, 2010—The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is pleased to announce the appointment of David N. Cook as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Cook will lead the senior management team, oversee IAVI’s operations and work closely with IAVI’s CEO Seth Berkley to drive the organization’s strategy for ensuring the development of an AIDS vaccine.

Prior to joining IAVI, Cook was CEO and co-founder of Anza Therapeutics, a biotechnology startup in the San Francisco Bay area that sought to develop a novel vaccine platform to treat or prevent diseases such as cancer, hepatitis C, malaria and tuberculosis. At Anza, he helped raise venture capital and money from governmental and nonprofit sources to fund the company and led a team that moved two novel immunotherapy candidates into early-stage clinical trials.

Following that, Cook served as an advisor to BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH), a nonprofit based in Washington D.C. that seeks to accelerate the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for neglected diseases by forging partnerships between biotechnology companies and global health enterprises. In this capacity, he helped BVGH with its business development activities and the design of incentives to make participation in neglected diseases feasible for companies.

“David has just the sort of experience we’re looking for in a COO,” said Berkley. “He has considerable experience in vaccine science and the management of biotech operations, and his grasp of the contractual, regulatory and financial complexities inherent to public-private partnerships will serve IAVI well in these economically difficult times. We believe he has much to contribute to the fulfillment of our mission, and are delighted to have him on board.”

Before launching Anza, Cook held positions of increasing responsibility at the biotechnology corporations Cerus and Eligix, accumulating experience in everything from R&D and program management to business development, manufacturing and clinical and regulatory affairs. He has led teams to develop and commercialize several biotech products and has been directly responsible for obtaining marketing authorization from the European Union for four novel medical products. He is also a co-inventor on over twenty patents.

“I am very excited to join IAVI—and through it to take part in the global quest to end the AIDS pandemic,” said Cook. “I believe my experience in building product development programs and cultivating new technologies will serve the organization well as it seeks out new solutions to the extraordinary challenges of ensuring the development of safe, effective and affordable AIDS vaccines.”

Cook earned a PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and received undergraduate degrees in American Studies from Harvard College and chemistry from California State University. He is also a graduate of the Executive Program at Stanford University’s School of Business.

About IAVIThe International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is a global not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccines for use throughout the world. Founded in 1996 and operational in 25 countries, IAVI and its network of collaborators research and develop vaccine candidates. In July 2009, IAVI received a four-star rating for the eighth consecutive year from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent evaluator of charities. In fact, nearly 90 percent of IAVI’s finances go exclusively toward ensuring the development of a safe, effective, preventive AIDS vaccine.

IAVI was founded with the generous support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Starr Foundation, and Until There's A Cure Foundation. Other major supporters include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, The John D. Evans Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the James B. Pendleton Charitable Trust; the Governments of Canada, Denmark, India, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the Basque Autonomous Government, the European Union as well as The City of New York, Economic Development Corporation; multilateral organizations such as The World Bank; corporate donors including BD (Becton, Dickinson & Co.), Bristol-Myers Squibb, Continental Airlines, Google Inc., Henry Schein, Inc., Pfizer Inc, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; leading AIDS charities such as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS; other private donors such as The Haas Trusts; and many generous individuals from around the world. For more information, see www.iavi.org.